Wednesday, June 09, 2010

The Spirit of Ghana, by Suzanne

At two weeks in Ghana, I am now re-acclimated. I am sleeping soundly, peacefully, happily, jet lag and that initial bout of food poisoning long gone, my body feels normal, my soul better-than-normal (more on that …).

While I hate to admit it, the first week I was a bit shocked seeing the dirt and smelling the sewage and smoke and witnessing the poverty. But now I see the slow, simple life, the peace, the harmony, the friendly and helpful people. And of course, at Ashesi and at church and even in my old neighborhood, my community of friends and acquaintances, and the real and interesting problems that people are coming together to discuss and maybe even solve.

Now about my soul. I don’t know what it is about Ghana that brings out this wonderful peace in me, and makes me feel SOOOooooooo connected to the Holy Spirit. It is just so much easier to be connected to God here. I wake up every morning feeling peaceful and happy and calm. Every evening I go to bed thankful for my day and the people in it, and praying for those who need it. And throughout the day I am calm, joyous, connected, even in the midst of working (very) hard with stress here and there. For example, I’m doing my Apache-Netcat-Wireshark lab on Friday – I’ve already postponed it once, it REALLY needs to happen Friday – and we still haven’t solved the technical difficulties. It’s Wednesday night. In this States this would have me worried, anxious, stressed. It’s such a different feeling here. Partly, I have a lot of faith in Ato (Ashesi’s fantastic tech-guy), partly, I do have a worst-case Plan Z that will likely work if all else fails in the back of my brain. But partly it’s just that this environment does not encourage anxiety. I like it. I (like to think) I brought a lot of Ghana’s goodness home with me when I returned to the States almost 2 years ago – I have a renewed sense of the importance of keeping this spirit of Ghana alive when I return this time, in 5 weeks time.

2 Comments:

I'm happy for you - and, intrigued that you feel closer to the Holy Spirit in Ghana. Your experience invites me to access my own awareness of proximity to the Holy. There are Holy places; certainly some that we call "Holy Ground." Yet, I wonder how much me deny/resist creating/recognizing sacred space and the Divine presence wherever we are. Is is a matter of temporal locality, or how we have placed our souls - mind, body, and Spirit?

As for me (as they say in Ghana) I think the key is that when your psyche is not filled with stress and anxiety, it is easier to live more peacefully (more at peace), and more in line with your purpose - and peaceful living promotes awareness of the Holy Spirit, on a more consistent basis. Not just when you need something or during a particular ritualistic time of day (e.g. time for Bible study) but all day, every day. I feel that there is a lot unhealthy about the American lifestyle, although it's difficult for me to name one thing. It's almost as if Americans are only happy if there is something they can be worrying about, or something they can be unhappy about. You know? I'll try again to bring back with me the peace, we'll see how long it lasts...